Golden 💰

Titan's stellar quarter, MSFT's new bet, and Stock moves.

☀️ Morning, folks!

Hope your Tuesday was as upbeat as Mr. Market’s.

Sensex and Nifty bounced back strong after a rough day yesterday.

Let’s hit it!

1 Big Thing: Titan had a sparkling quarter ✨

Thanks to festive cheer and a surge in gold prices, Titan which owns brands like Tanishq, estimates a 24% YoY revenue growththe Sep-Dec quarter.

Titan says the top-line growth was largely driven by strong demand across its jewellery and premium product segments.

• Jewelry particularly stood out, growing 26%YoY, thanks to Diwali and wedding shopping.
• Gold coin sales surged 48%, potentially driven by investors.

The company’s retail footprint expanded with 69 new outlets, including Tanishq stores in Seattle and Dubai, bringing its total to over 3,500 stores.

Other notable trends: domestic watch sales grew 13%, while wearables faced challenges, dropping 20% due to weak demand in the entry and mid-price segments.

Emerging categories like fragrances grew 27%.

Worth noting: CaratLane, the jewellery company Tata acquired last year, also grew 25% YoY. The sales were so good this quarter that the company launched its first international store in the U.S. along with 19 new outlets in India.

Mr. Market responded positively, with stock rising 1.76%.

And it seems like the gold boom isn’t just limited to Titan. Kalyan Jewellers also reported a 39% revenue jump, signaling a golden quarter for the sector.

2. Microsoft can’t get enough of India 🤝

Microsoft just made a hugeee bet on India with a $3 billion investment to expand its AI and Azure cloud services.

The deets: the funds will go toward building an AI computing ecosystem tailored for startups and researchers — which include localized services, development centers, and data centers.

As part of this initiative, Microsoft will also train 10 million people in AI skills by 2030 to enhance its local workforce. Currently, Microsoft employs over 20,000 individuals in India.

Satya, during his recent India visit spoke about their “commitment to making India AI first.” And FYI, just last week, Microsoft had announced plans to spend $80 billion to build data centers for AI workloads in 2025.

Zoom out: Indian tech talent base has a crucial role to play in enabling the AI services revolution. For example, India is now Microsoft’s second-largest base of GitHub users globally.

3. Quick stock spotlights 📈

• Paras Defence: Hit the upper circuit at ₹1,066 after securing manufacturing rights for NATO-standard MK-46 and MK-48 Light Machine Guns. The company will produce 6,000 units annually of each model.
• Equinox India Developments: Jumped 20% to ₹144 after NCLAT cleared its four-year-old merger with Embassy Group, overriding income tax department objections that had stalled the deal.
• Zydus Lifesciences: Gained 4.1%, reaching ₹1,000 after announcing two major wins — a CVS Caremark formulary listing for its diabetes drugs and FDA priority review for a rare disease treatment.
• Biocon Ltd: Rose 7.79% to ₹387 after securing regulatory approval for its Ustekinumab biosimilar in Japan, marking its entry into the lucrative psoriasis treatment market.

4. Venture town temp check 🔥

The new year is seeing robust venture activity at the earliest stages, with quite a few notable bids funded across themes.

• Moonrider, an electric tractor startup, raised $2.2 million in a seed round led by AdvantEdge. Moonrider makes tractors that are completely electric, built in India, with the gial of revamping farm tools with modern, digitized, and non polluting equipment. Their current product lineup is available at the same prices as industry incumbents.
• EMO Energy raised $6.2 million in its Series A round led by Subhkam Ventures. EMO Energy designs EV battery storage systems to reduce carbon footprints make EV adoption easier. The funds will support R&D, ramp up battery production for 2 and 3 wheelers, and expand the team.
• Zoplar raised $3.4 million in Series A in a round led by Blume Ventures. Zoplar simplifies medical equipment procurement for small and medium-sized hospitals by streamlining vendor management, product selection, and after-sales services.

5. Merger of the day 👊

Getty Images is acquiring Shutterstock in a $3.7 billion deal.

The merger combines their portfolios of still images, video, music, and 3D media.

The deets: the combined company will operate under Getty Images, with Getty’s CEO Craig Peters at the helm.

Shutterstock shareholders will get a mix of cash and Getty stock, and the merger will be overseen by an 11-member board.

The mega trend: proprietary high-value data and media assets are becoming a unique edge in the Gen AI era, with model builders willing to pay big bucks to license complete and thorough content databases. Joining forces increases the leverage of both Getty and Shutterstock.

Bottomline: Market reacted positively, with Shutterstock’s stock jumping 30% and Getty’s rising 58%.

What else are we Snackin’ 🍿

🥊 Board shakeup: Meta appoints UFC chief Dana White to its board, strengthening ties to sports and leadership. Trump may have had a role in pushing this.

🫂 CoinSwitch cares: CoinSwitch launches a ₹600-crore recovery program to support users impacted by the WazirX hack.

🤝 Partner up: Myntra has partnered with GetVantage to provide embedded fintech and growth capital support to select D2C brands.

👎 Blacklisted: US blacklists Tencent and CATL over alleged Chinese military ties, targeting major gaming and EV battery giants.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the Weekday blues get to you.

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